in the NEWS​

The Northwestern Water and Sewer District expects to complete a project this year to replace water service lines containing lead.

The district board of trustees in December approved a resolution to contract with Speer Brothers, Sandusky, for $883,365 to replace lines in the district’s service area covering the northern part of Wood County.

Theresa Pollick, a spokesman for the district, said 322 service lines have been identified for replacement with most located in sections of Rossford and western Northwood where older infrastructure is in place. In Northwood, the homes and buildings being serviced are bounded by W. Florence, Oregon, Tracy and Wales roads.

Milken Institute School of Public Health at The George Washington UniversityEvent Organized by Collaborative members: the American Public Health Association, Children's Environmental Health Network, Environmental Defense Fund, and National Center for Healthy Housing

WASHINGTON — In late 2014, Yaquelin Vargas was pregnant when she became suspicious something was wrong with the water in her hometown of Flint, Mich. She was getting rashes and losing her hair. The shower water felt “like a gooey gel” on her skin.

“I didn’t want to live like that anymore,” Vargas said January 24 at a panel hosted at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University. “But nobody was listening.”Vargas was one of many voices sounding the alarm about the water in Flint four years ago.

The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority adopted a lead service line policy Friday that mandates and pays for replacement of both the public and privately owned portions of those lines, prioritizing properties where pregnant women and young children live.

The policy, which the authority’s board approved by unanimous vote, formalizes PWSA’s announcement last summer that it would halt a practice known as partial line replacement, which removes only the publicly owned portion of the service line that’s connected to the water main.

Partial line replacement can dislodge or stir up lead corrosion in the private supply line, increasing customer exposure to lead, a neurotoxin that is hazardous to pregnant women, infants and small children.

To reduce the potential exposure from lead in drinking water in Oshkosh, the City has adopted revisions to the Municipal Code “Chapter 20 – Plumbing” to make full lead water service line replacement mandatory. To offset the cost to property owners, the City applied for and received a $500,000 principal forgiveness loan from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources through the Safe Drinking Water Loan Program.

The policy now includes the opportunity for property owners, not adjacent to City projects, who wish to have their private-side lead service replaced to be a part of the reimbursement program. Through the program, property owners can receive reimbursement of 50% of the cost of replacement up to a maximum of $1500. Additional reimbursement is available to property owners who meet certain income requirements.

Iowa municipalities could receive loans to replace lead service lines and assume statewide enforcement obligations for water-quality standards under a new Iowa Department of Natural Resources proposal.

As locales all over the country wrestle with lead contamination in their drinking water, one Michigan community is taking an aggressive approach to the problem. The municipal water system in Kalamazoo, MI, is moving relatively quickly to replace all of its lead service lines.​“Almost three times the number of water service lines containing lead were replaced in 2017 compared to its previous schedule,” Michigan Live reported. “A total of 472 were disconnected as of Dec. 18, compared to 120 in 2016.”

The Green Bay Water Utility’s quest to eliminate lead service pipes took a giant stride forward in 2017. The utility’s “Get the Lead Out” program has cut about a third of the utility-owned lead service lines in the city, leaving it with about 959 lines, according to the utility. The utility hopes to have them all replaced by the end of 2020.